Water Charging and Metering

Irish Water to take responsibility for administration of Wicklow business water accounts from September.

Irish Water will this week begin the process to take in charge the administration of 2,533 business customer accounts in Wicklow. The change will see responsibility for account administration for existing business customers in Wicklow move to Irish Water from Local Authorities. Charges for business customers, credit terms and the frequency of billing will remain unchanged while this transition is taking place.

Business customers in Wicklow will now have a single point of customer contact for all queries in relation to water supply, wastewater treatment and business account management. Irish Water will contact all 2,533 business customers and other affected groups in Wicklow directly, once the transition takes place. Bills will be issued from Irish Water directly, as they fall due, from September onwards.

Irish Water took over responsibility for providing public water services to business customers in January 2014. Before this, Local Authorities billed businesses for water services provided to them and they have continued to issue bills on behalf of Irish Water on an interim basis since then. A process is now beginning to transfer this billing process to Irish Water as part of the transition of water service delivery from Local Authorities to Irish Water.

Irish Water began the process of billing transfer on a phased basis in mid-July and to date administration for counties Meath, Monaghan, Longford, Cork City and Carlow have successfully been transferred to the utility. Prior to bills being issued, Irish Water will contact customers directly in each county to explain what is happening. Any customer with a query in relation to the process can contact Irish Water on 1850 778 778 or 01 707 2827.

Irish Water continues to invest in the water and wastewater infrastructure in Wicklow and has completed a number of significant projects in the county. These include a €5.5 million investment in a new wastewater treatment plant for Dunlavin, €900,000 in the Arklow Water Supply Scheme for the Lamberton Reservoir Refurbishment and €5 million in the Arklow Ballyduff Water Treatment Plant for a new water treatment plant to serve Arklow Town.

A programme of maintenance work on 10 reservoirs across County Wicklow is also underway to inspect the condition of the reservoirs and to enable Irish Water to carry out any maintenance works that may be required. These works will safeguard the quality of the drinking water and increase the security of the supply for the people of Wicklow. The reservoirs included in the programme are Coolboy/Coolafany, Hollywood, Kiltegan, Knockananna, Knockanarrigan, Rathdangan, Stratford, Valleymount/Ballyknockan, Barndarrig and Thomastown Reservoirs.

Irish Water is also progressing with the significant works to upgrade the Vartry Water Supply Scheme. These works will secure the water supply for the long-term and ensure the scheme continues to meet all drinking water standards. A planning application was submitted to Wicklow County Council in April. Irish Water is also progressing with the Arklow Wastewater Treatment Plant project. This project which will end the current practice of discharging untreated wastewater into the Avoca River. The project represents an investment of over €30 million by Irish Water and will bring benefits to Arklow in terms of health, integrity of the environment and improved water quality for all.

Elected representatives seeking further information from Irish Water in relation to how the administrative change will affect business customers in their constituency should contact our dedicated elected representatives support desk.

Contact Irish Water

Irish Water is now your contact point for all water services queries, including account management and billing.

There are no changes to your charges or billing frequency.

Irish Water will now issue your water services bill.

From now, please make all payments to Irish Water.

If you have questions about your account or water services, please contact Irish Water.